Song plays right field. Well, I didn't hear anything from A&C saying that someone else was playing there!Jenny and Madame Vastra, of course, are batting for the other team.

Poohblah wrote:ok, pretty confident this is a "Doctor Who" reference, but somebody please enlighten me as to the joke/pun, because I really don't understand it...

In Doctor Who, there's a running gag where someone introduces him as the Doctor, and someone else invariably replies with "Doctor who?" to which the response (usually by the Doctor) is "no, just the Doctor."It also references Abbot and Costello's Who's on First skit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_gSWTQKE-0

dzamie wrote:Song plays right field. Well, I didn't hear anything from A&C saying that someone else was playing there!Jenny and Madame Vastra, of course, are batting for the other team.

Poohblah wrote:ok, pretty confident this is a "Doctor Who" reference, but somebody please enlighten me as to the joke/pun, because I really don't understand it...

In Doctor Who, there's a running gag where someone introduces him as the Doctor, and someone else invariably replies with "Doctor who?" to which the response (usually by the Doctor) is "no, just the Doctor."It also references Abbot and Costello's Who's on First skit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_gSWTQKE-0

Yes, I'm aware of that Doctor who joke, and.... OH!! THAT skit! I've seen it before!! NOW I understand! Thanks you

dzamie wrote:In Doctor Who, there's a running gag where someone introduces him as the Doctor, and someone else invariably replies with "Doctor who?" to which the response (usually by the Doctor) is "no, just the Doctor."

Silence will fall when the question is asked...

Also, referring to The Doctor (character) as "Doctor Who" is about the same level of ignorance as mixing up Vulcans and Klingons.

Goodness! I didn't get the joke. Just didn't. Started reading the comments, saw Abbot and Costello mentioned. Hm, no - not getting it. Then my memory (which apparantly has a high latency) kicked up the right association (maybe that was the problem - I'm usually left associative), and I burst into laughter-o-loudly.

/Lasse

StratPlayer wrote:Fewer and fewer people writing more and more about less and less. If this trend continues, eventually it will be nobody writing everything about nothing.

Took a moment for this one to dawn on me, but I was amused. (Yes this exactly the same thing Magnanimous already said; doesn't make it wrong.)

Also, to finish clearing up any confusion among readers even less knowledgeable than I - the reason A Wrinkle in Time is being referenced in the alt-text is that it contains a character named "Mrs. Who" (a compatriot of Mrs. Whatsit).

I got the Abbott and Costello ref (after about 10 seconds of thinking "eh? What's the joke? This is a scene which happens ALL THE TIME in the show") but I didn't get A Wrinkle In Time even though I've read the book. Albeit I read the book probably 16 or 17 years ago so my memory of it is not that great.

Incidentally, it's also a point of pedantic significance that Randall didn't put a period after the "Mrs" in "Mrs Whatsit." L'Engle left it off for the three supernatural beings, although some rogue copy-editors slipped it back in (at least, in a couple editions).

Hmmm, is Randall meta-trolling? A continuation of http://xkcd.com/891/? "If you get this, you're... just too old"? Although to be honest, that doesn't include the alt-text (no idea about that, haven't read that book).

m_dow wrote:Incidentally, it's also a point of pedantic significance that Randall didn't put a period after the "Mrs" in "Mrs Whatsit."

It's a point a pedantic significance that "Mrs" is correctly written without a period. The period indicates omitted letters, and is correctly used for shortenings like "Rev.", "Gen.", "Pres.", etc. Titles like "Dr", "Mr", "Mrs" have letters omitted from the middle, not from the end, so "Mrs" is quite correct, although people do often write it as "Mrs." without logic, especially Americans.

m_dow wrote:Incidentally, it's also a point of pedantic significance that Randall didn't put a period after the "Mrs" in "Mrs Whatsit."

It's a point a pedantic significance that "Mrs" is correctly written without a period. The period indicates omitted letters, and is correctly used for shortenings like "Rev.", "Gen.", "Pres.", etc. Titles like "Dr", "Mr", "Mrs" have letters omitted from the middle, not from the end, so "Mrs" is quite correct, although people do often write it as "Mrs." without logic, especially Americans.

Thanks for this. I'm trying to know British English rather than american, so it's always nice to become aware of another difference. Not long ago, I was quite surprised that the correct British form is "aeroplane".

This reminds me of the whole "Hu is the president of China" routine that the Now Show did after the last-but-one Politburo reshuffle. The Prime Minister was Wen Jiabao, which doubled the comedic potential. ("The Chinese Prime Minister is coming to visit." "When?" "Yes" etc).

Ok, I read every comment here and then hit "A Wrinkle in Time"'s wikipedia page. Let me see if I understand right:

There's this show called "Doctor Who", in which the main character is called The Doctor, leading to people asking "doctor who?" and being told "No, just 'The Doctor'". It's a fine show.There's also this comedy duo called Abbot&Costello, who have a sketch called "Who's on first" about a reporter and baseball coach constantly misunderstanding each other, because the player on first base (whatever the heck that is) has the nickname "Who". The sketch is mildly amusing.There's also a book called "A Wrinkle in Time" in which several aliens pose as humans, adopting the names "Mrs Who", "Mrs Which" and "Mrs Whatsit". The book sounds awesome.

And the joke is...?

GENERATION [imath]\aleph_{1}[/imath] : Whenever you wish, copy this into your sig on any forum and increase the generation to the next transfinite cardinal. Social experiment NOT over.

Mo6eB wrote:Ok, I read every comment here and then hit "A Wrinkle in Time"'s wikipedia page. Let me see if I understand right:

There's this show called "Doctor Who", in which the main character is called The Doctor, leading to people asking "doctor who?" and being told "No, just 'The Doctor'". It's a fine show.There's also this comedy duo called Abbot&Costello, who have a sketch called "Who's on first" about a reporter and baseball coach constantly misunderstanding each other, because the player on first base (whatever the heck that is) has the nickname "Who". The sketch is mildly amusing.There's also a book called "A Wrinkle in Time" in which several aliens pose as humans, adopting the names "Mrs Who", "Mrs Which" and "Mrs Whatsit". The book sounds awesome.

And the joke is...?

The joke is that the reason why the baseball player from the A&C sketch is called "Who" is because he's The Doctor. Edit: And every time you'll see the sketch from now on, you won't be able to get the idea that they are talking about The Doctor out of your head.

Klear wrote:The joke is that the reason why the baseball player from the A&C sketch is called "Who" is because he's The Doctor. Edit: And every time you'll see the sketch from now on, you won't be able to get the idea that they are talking about The Doctor out of your head.

But that’s nonsense, since nobody ever calls him “Doctor Who". That’s like calling Link "Zelda", or Master Chief "Halo". In other words:

Doctor Who is a pretty cool guy. Eh fights the Daleks and doesn't afraid of anything.

I thought I got the Doctor Who bit, I was completely and utterly stumped by the whole baseball thing, but I was SO EXCITED by the Wrinkle in Time reference! It's one of the handful of well-loved books I've kept from childhood, and flipping through it now I see all kinds of things that have stuck with me, without my realising where they came from. Truly a magical book, not just for the planet-hopping story or the insights into maths and physics, but the wonderful characters (human and otherwise) - in particular the dorky, emotional, brilliant but clueless but ultimately heroic Meg. Inspiration for nerdy girls everywhere.

mooncow wrote:It's a point a pedantic significance that "Mrs" is correctly written without a period. The period indicates omitted letters, and is correctly used for shortenings like "Rev.", "Gen.", "Pres.", etc. Titles like "Dr", "Mr", "Mrs" have letters omitted from the middle, not from the end, so "Mrs" is quite correct, although people do often write it as "Mrs." without logic, especially Americans.

Thanks for this. I'm trying to know British English rather than american, so it's always nice to become aware of another difference. Not long ago, I was quite surprised that the correct British form is "aeroplane".

Don't take mooncow too seriously. They're quoting the convention from Fowler's Modern English Usage (1926) which doesn't agree with other style guides, British or otherwise, on that point. There is nothing more or less correct about using periods after titles, and nothing particular regional about it either. (The logical editors of the Economist, for example, would let Rev stand without a period, and many careful British writers have made a point of giving Mr. a period.) The key really is consistency, which is why so many editors got out their pens for Wrinkle in Time, because many of these distinctions are arbitrary and it's only important that you pick one and stick with it! (Unless of course you're L'Engle and you have a reason not to.)

Mighty Jalapeno wrote:I feel like you're probably an ocelot, and I feel like I want to eat you. Feeling is fun!

mooncow wrote:It's a point a pedantic significance that "Mrs" is correctly written without a period. The period indicates omitted letters, and is correctly used for shortenings like "Rev.", "Gen.", "Pres.", etc. Titles like "Dr", "Mr", "Mrs" have letters omitted from the middle, not from the end, so "Mrs" is quite correct, although people do often write it as "Mrs." without logic, especially Americans.

Thanks for this. I'm trying to know British English rather than american, so it's always nice to become aware of another difference. Not long ago, I was quite surprised that the correct British form is "aeroplane".

Don't take mooncow too seriously. They're quoting the convention from Fowler's Modern English Usage (1926) which doesn't agree with other style guides, British or otherwise, on that point. There is nothing more or less correct about using periods after titles, and nothing particular regional about it either. (The logical editors of the Economist, for example, would let Rev stand without a period, and many careful British writers have made a point of giving Mr. a period.) The key really is consistency, which is why so many editors got out their pens for Wrinkle in Time, because many of these distinctions are arbitrary and it's only important that you pick one and stick with it! (Unless of course you're L'Engle and you have a reason not to.)

Wikipedia seems toagree though. And anyway, it makes sense to write it without the period.

Perfect comic to make anybody outside GB and USA feel totally left out. When I'm grown up I'm going to create a comic that attracts an even bigger fanbase than Randall's, then I'll write an episode that refers to a) 5 different sketches/tv shows/novels that are all well known in my country but completely obscure in the rest of the world, b) puns that are entirely lost in translation and c) some kind of sports that everybody in my country loves but nobody else outside has a clue about.

mooncow wrote:It's a point a pedantic significance that "Mrs" is correctly written without a period. The period indicates omitted letters, and is correctly used for shortenings like "Rev.", "Gen.", "Pres.", etc. Titles like "Dr", "Mr", "Mrs" have letters omitted from the middle, not from the end, so "Mrs" is quite correct, although people do often write it as "Mrs." without logic, especially Americans.

This is not true. There are plenty of British citations in the OED for Dr. and Mrs. with the period. The idea that the period is only used when letters are omitted from the end seems completely made up. It might be a standard in some style guides, but it's certainly not the only correct way.

mooncow wrote:people do often write it as "Mrs." without logic, especially Americans.

You seem to be confusing you being too stubborn/clueless to understand something with that same something not being logical. Here's the logic: In American English, almost any single word (as opposed to an acronym) that is abbreviated will get a period on the end. I want to say any instead of "almost any," but I'm sure there's some example to the contrary, because language is a complex beast that can't be summed up in any practical number of single-sentence rules.

And the only question that actually matters in language is this: Did you understand the point being communicated? Great, then the language use was logical.

orthogon wrote:I didn't know any better. I guess I'm one of today's lucky 10,000. However, if this is correct (which I suppose I have to accept), why is the programme called "Doctor Who" and not "Doctor Who?"?

Already mentioned, but since you also mentioned "lucky 10,000", I'll explain. Whenever someone meets The Doctor for the first time, the conversation usually goes something like this:

A: ...and this is The Doctor.B: Doctor? Doctor who?The Doctor: No, it's just "The Doctor".

It's a running gag.

Also, it's not that NOBODY calls The Doctor "Doctor Who". It's that a lot of people incorrectly call him "Doctor Who" (because that's what the show is called). That's the joke. "[Doctor] Who's on first?" "No, he's just The Doctor".

orthogon wrote:I didn't know any better. I guess I'm one of today's lucky 10,000. However, if this is correct (which I suppose I have to accept), why is the programme called "Doctor Who" and not "Doctor Who?"?

Already mentioned, but since you also mentioned "lucky 10,000", I'll explain. Whenever someone meets The Doctor for the first time, the conversation usually goes something like this:

A: ...and this is The Doctor.B: Doctor? Doctor who?The Doctor: No, it's just "The Doctor".

Thanks, but I think my question might have been obscured rather than clarified by the punctuation. My point was that the programme should be called "Doctor Who?", not "Doctor Who". Without the question mark it strongly implies that "Dr Who" is the protagonist's name. Then again I will count myself as doubly, triply or quadruply lucky if somebody now points out that Dr Strangelove, Dr Zhivago and/or Dr Jekyll are not the characters' real names.

orthogon wrote:Thanks, but I think my question might have been obscured rather than clarified by the punctuation. My point was that the programme should be called "Doctor Who?", not "Doctor Who". Without the question mark it strongly implies that "Dr Who" is the protagonist's name. Then again I will count myself as doubly, triply or quadruply lucky if somebody now points out that Dr Strangelove, Dr Zhivago and/or Dr Jekyll are not the characters' real names.